


Wisdom.

by Pitseleh



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Etymology, F/M, Slice of Life, Worldbuilding, drawerfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-03-07
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pitseleh/pseuds/Pitseleh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarek and Amanda go the the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wisdom.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written without watching every single episode and film in the existence of the franchise, so if I've gotten some aspect of Vulcan culture irreparably muddled, I apologize. I just really like Sarek and Amanda. This takes place presumably before they're knocking boots, but who knows, it's kind of ambiguous.

There are no oceans on Vulcan. Or, no oceans as a Human would know them. The Vulcan word for ocean can mean lake, river, any collected body of water. They are called scthead, derived from the High Vulcan root scthe, the which in ancient times denoted something of great value, worth watching and waiting for.

The oceans of earth are certainly scthe. Sarek looks over the vast expanse of the shining Atlantic and, absently, wonders if this constitutes as _gawking_. He would not know; surely he has never _gawked_ before.

Amanda is wearing what the Humans consider fashionable bathing clothes, shining fabric that boasts to both keep the body warm and clean while remaining undamaged by the pull of the sea. Sarek is wearing no such clothing; there is no Vulcan fashion for seawear, and he finds himself unable to submit to Human fashions just yet. His robes will be enough. Though, at Amanda's request, he has taken off his shoes.

She had stared at his feet.

"Is there something particularly notable about them?"

"Oh, no, just-" She lifted up her foot, wiggling five-- five?-- pink digits at him. "See?"

He had nodded, and they had stepped out of the hovcraft, and walked toward the call of the sea. Sand around his feet was no new sensation, but this sand did not burn, did not test his constitution, did not make him regret leaving his shoes on Amanda's craft.

As he gets closer to the ocean, the sand becomes strange. It's wet, he realizes, and he supposes it's what Humans would classify as _mud_ , now, as it catches the soles of his feet.

When the water touches his toes, it is surprisingly cold. He keeps walking, until the foam collects around his ankles. When he is far enough out that he thinks the mud is no longer mixed in with the water, he bends down to cup his hands, lifting the collected water to his lips to drink.

 _Balk_ is another Human word, one which, Sarek suspects, only Humans would think up. It sounds very similar to _gawk_ , and Sarek wonders if it is derived from the same Ancient Humanish root. In any case, Sarek does not intend to do either.

The waters of the Earth are putrid, distasteful to him, and Sarek wonders how Humans have evolved on a planet with such poisoned scthead. But it would be just as distasteful to him, to spit it out. He swallows the sharp and acrid water, glad that he did not take more than a small sip. Next to him, Amanda _titters_.

 _Titters_ means to laugh in a small and girlish fashion. This is something at which Amanda excels.

"I'm sorry," she says. "Just- the look on your face."

Sarek says nothing.

"The ocean is salty," she says, smiling. "You can't drink it. If you're thirsty, I have some water in the craft. Actually-- why don't I get you some? To, uh, wash the taste out?"

Sarek submits to her Human wisdom.


End file.
